1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of surveillance systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for the presentation of surveillance data to humans.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surveillance is of increasing importance in today's world where ordinary businesses and institutions must be on guard for terrorist attacks, as well as the long-established threats such as theft and natural hazards. Increasingly technology is providing assistance, such as cameras and digital video recorders that make the task of security monitoring easier, but as prices fall, there is increasing pressure to install more and more data acquisition devices (cameras, badge readers, beam breakers, point-of-sales transaction loggers, etc.). The amount of this data is overwhelming for security guards who monitor these streams of information to look for the unusual events, which it is their responsibility to detect.
It is widely acknowledged that the tedious nature of surveillance video means that any security guard's attention will quickly wander. This limits the effectiveness of human monitoring after only a few minutes.
Today's security guards are often far removed from the patrolling night watchman of the past. They sit in central offices which may not even have windows to see the areas they are supposed to monitor. All information arrives via electronic means, e.g., through telephones, intercoms, electronic alarms and of course video.
While the security guard now receives information from all over the site being protected, the guard now also receives that information over a limited set of information channels, and no longer perceives the situation using all senses. The ability to investigate is severely hampered, often the only active investigation possible is to steer a Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera. This may limit the guard's effectiveness and problems of information overload and limited attention span rapidly arise.